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Strike it Lucky
Strike it Lucky was the show based on the short-lived American series where three pairs of contestants vie for big cash & big prizes by going across archways of TV monitors. Gameplay Main Game Three teams of two competed to win cash and prizes. One member of each team stood at the podiums to answer questions, while the other moved along a path lined with 10 television monitors. Each team had its own path, and the moving contestants started at the first monitor. The team in control was given a category and a list of six answers, and the answering contestant chose to play two, three, or four questions. If they answered all the questions correctly, their teammate gained the right to move one step ahead per question. An incorrect answer gave the next team in line a chance to steal control by answering the same question and any that followed it. When a team gained control, the moving contestant advanced one step at a time and pressed the button below each monitor to reveal cash, a prize, or a Hot Spot (between five and eight altogether). If cash or a prize was revealed, the team could either bank it and end their turn, or risk it and take another step if they had earned any more. Finding a Hot Spot forfeited all un-banked prizes and ended the turn. If a team completed all their moves without finding a Hot Spot, all prizes found on that turn were automatically banked. Once a team's turn ended for any reason, the next team in line played. If a team was on the sixth or seventh step of their path, they could not ask for any number of questions that would take them past the ninth one. A team on the eighth step could only play two questions. Once a team reached the ninth step, they had a choice to either end the turn and bank the prizes, or to attempt one final open-ended question for which conferring was allowed. If they attempted the question on that same turn and missed, they forfeited the un-banked prizes. The first team to correctly answer their final question won the game, banked any prizes still at risk, and advanced to the bonus round. Teams kept all cash and prizes they banked during the game. If a team finished with nothing in the bank, they received a consolation prize. In early episodes, this was a bottle of champagne. Later, Barrymore would either reveal the next two prizes along the team's path and award these, or allow the team to keep the last set of prizes they had lost to a Hot Spot. Bonus Round The bonus round used all 30 monitors lining the three paths. Ten each of arrows, Hot Spots, and true/false questions were shuffled and hidden among the monitors. At the outset, the team bid on how few Hot Spots they believed they would hit during the round (two, three, or four); the lower their bid, the more money was at stake. They advanced one step at a time, choosing the top, middle, or bottom monitor at each step. Arrows represented safe moves, while a correct answer or miss on a question turned it into an arrow or Hot Spot, respectively. If the team completed all 10 steps without exceeding their bid of Hot Spots, they won the cash prize for that bid. These prizes were £2,000/£1,500/£1,000 for the first four series of Strike It Lucky, increased to £3,000/£2,000/£1,000 for the fifth through eighth series, and again to £5,000/£4,000/£3,000 for the ninth. When the series was re-titled Strike It Rich, the prizes were £10,000/£7,000/£5,000. From the fifth through the ninth series, teams who failed to win their jackpot received 10% of its value for every safe step they took before exceeding their bid (£300/£200/£100, then £500/£400/£300). On Strike It Rich, the consolation was 5% per step (£500/£350/£250). Trivia On a 1997 special, contestants who took part would donate their winnings to cancer research, with three contestants suffering from the disease, including one man who had his voice box removed. The first players, a man who was known for his funny outrageous behavior, won the game with his daughter and played for £10,000. As they went for £10,000, only two hotspots were allowed. The first three moves turned out to be hotspots, and the game should have ended. Barrymore would not let the couple lose charity money, and completely ignored the hotspots and moved on anyway, in which at one point, the producer off screen was telling Barrymore off, in which he replied "Don't make a face at me...". The couple hit six hotspots in the end, and lost at the final screen, where a hotspot appeared. Barrymore ignored this again, and gave them £10,000 anyway. Merchandise In 1988, a home version of Strike it Lucky! was released by Parker Games. An interactive DVD of Strike it Lucky! went on sale throughout the UK on 13 November 2006. Produced by Fremantle Home Entertainment, and with over 2,000 questions available, original host Michael Barrymore provides links to the game play, which stays loyal to the format of its television equivalent. Additional Pages List of Strike it Lucky episodes and specials Category:General Knowledge Quiz Category:Gambling Category:Decision Making Category:American Formats Category:Long-Running Category:ITV Shows Category:1986 premieres Category:1994 endings Category:1996 premieres Category:1999 endings